Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 877 Hawaii properties in November, down 31 percent from the previous month, but still a slight increase from the level reported in November 2009, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

One in every 585 Hawaii housing units received a foreclosure filing in November, the 13th highest state foreclosure rate in the nation.

“Foreclosure activity in Hawaii dropped significantly in November, though it remained relatively stable compared to this time last year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While the recent decline can be attributed in part to a seasonal drop, a much greater impact was made by the fallout from the ‘robo-signing’ scandal which forced lenders to suspend foreclosures temporarily.”

Maui County has top foreclosure rate in November

MauiCounty posted the highest foreclosure rate in Hawaii for November, with one in every 374 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 1.6 times the state average. HawaiiCounty had the second highest foreclosure rate, reporting one in every 376 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 1.6 times the state average. KauaiCounty came in third, with one in every 480 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Honolulu County reports highest foreclosure total in November

Honolulu County led the state in foreclosure activity, reporting 426 properties with foreclosure filings. Hawaii County had the second highest total reporting 212 properties with foreclosure filings. Maui County was third highest, tallying 177 properties with foreclosure filings. Kauai County reported 62 properties with foreclosure filings for the month, the state’s fourth highest activity level.

State a minor contributor to total foreclosure total

Hawaii accounted for less than 1 percent of the 262,339 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in November. Total U.S. activity decreased by 21 percent from the previous month, and was down more than 14 percent from the level reported in November 2009. One in every 492 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the RealtyTrac database during the month — broken out by type of filing by state, county and metropolitan statistical area. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the month may have been recorded in previous months. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default—Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction— Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is received for a property during the month, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.